1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to article-directing mechanisms for packing systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to article directing mechanisms, employed in packing systems that pack articles conveyed from previous processes, for distributively directing articles along conveyance means.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a predetermined number of goods are packed in a box such as a cardboard box when the goods manufactured in, for instance, a factory are to be forwarded to wholesale or retail stores. Although this kind of packing operation is often carried out manually, various automated packing systems have been proposed.
An example of an automated packing system in packing system 90 is shown in FIG. 27. The packing system 90 is for packing bagged articles or goods, which have been produced by a processed bagging device in a previous process, in a cardboard box C.
The articles are conveyed in a line by means such as a conveyer system from the previous process. The articles are, first of all, checked that they have been properly sealed when they are on a conveyer 91. In this process, the articles, which were bagged by the processed bagging device, are checked to ensure proper sealing and bagging.
Next, the weight of each of the bagged articles is checked when it is on a conveyer 92. Articles which have been determined to have improper weight or to have been improperly sealed are passed through a conveyer 93 to exit from the line as inferior.
The articles that have passed the seal and weight check are transferred from the conveyer 93 to a conveyer 95 by a position changing mechanism 94. The position changing mechanism 94 is for changing the direction of the articles so as to be suitable for being packed in a box. The position changing mechanism 94 holds an article from the conveyer 93 by suction and, if necessary, changes the orientation of the article by 90 degrees by rotating the article while transferring it.
When a predetermined number of articles are lined up on the conveyer 95, these articles are held together by suction and moved by a suction holder 96a of a stacking mechanism 96. The stacking mechanism 96 stacks a plurality of articles in a row in front of an opening of the cardboard box C, which lays sideways on a conveyer 98. Note that the cardboard box C is constructed and its bottom taped by a box constructing mechanism (not shown in the figure). After being retained by a holding mechanism (not shown in the figure), the box is toppled over sideways by changing the position of a holder in the holding mechanism. A pusher 97 pushes the articles that have been stacked in a row in front of the opening into the cardboard box C. The pusher 97 is disposed in a position opposite the cardboard box C across the articles. Then, the cardboard box C is again held by the holding mechanism. The cardboard box is then returned to an upright position. Afterwards, the number of articles in the cardboard box C is checked on a conveyer 99 by measuring the weight of the box C. The box C is then sent to later processes such as sealing of the box or labeling.
Using a system such as the above-described packing system 90 automates packing operations which had been conducted manually thus far, enabling the packing operations to be quickly and efficiently executed.
Various forms of packing exist, however. Unlike the above-described packing system 90 in which articles conveyed in a line from a previous process are packed in rows, it may be necessary to distributively direct a line of articles into a plurality of further lines for packing. In addition, in order to raise processing speed in the packing operation as a whole, it may be necessary at one point to direct articles in a line distributively into a plurality of lines along the course of the packing system.
In the foregoing cases, use of a directing mechanism for distributively directing articles may be necessary. Conceivably, the position changing mechanism 94 could be utilized in the above-described packing system 90. Articles in a line could thereby be distributed to a plurality of lines when they are transferred from the conveyer 93 to the conveyer 95. Wherein such a modification may not be practical for structural and cost reasons, a separate distributive directing mechanism that suction-grabs goods by means of a suction holder and distributively directs the goods so that the line of articles flows along into a plurality of lines could conceivably be established.
There are limitations, however, to adapting the distributive directing mechanism that suction-grabs goods, and shifts the suction holder and releases the suction so as to put them into a plurality of lines. For structural reasons, securing a processing speed higher than a certain level is difficult. Further, the processing speed of the directing mechanism does not match the conveyance speed of goods flowing from the previous process. In other words, to secure sufficient speed in distributively directing conveyance goods from one line into a plurality of lines with the mechanisms that suction-grab the goods as has been conventional is in most cases inadequate.
Accordingly, a need exists for an article directing mechanism for a packing system that overcomes the above described problems in the prior art. This invention addresses this need in the prior art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.
One of the objects of the present invention is in a packing system for packing goods conveyed from previous processes, to provide an article directing mechanism for distributively directing articles on a conveyance means, wherein the mechanism handling speed in distributively directing the articles is high.
A directing unit, which is to direct bags arranged in one line of feed rollers to two lines in a packing system for packing the bags conveyed in one line from a previous process, includes eccentric pulleys, a belt, and a bag holding plate. The belt applies a force containing a component in the horizontal direction to the bags in a direction crosses the conveyance direction thereof. The bag holding plate is disposed above the feed rollers and governs lift of the bags so that they are not lifted more than a predetermined height when the force is applied to the bags by the belt.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses preferred embodiments of the present invention.